How Your Life Should Have Been
by satanstongue
Summary: A little one shot from the scene of Nadia's death in 5x15, how I think the day that Katherine showed Nadia would have/could have began (:


_Hey guys, I hope you like this short little one shot, I just recently finished up til what is aired this week and the episode where Nadia passes really got me. Im not completely happy with this, but I couldn't find anything like this on FF, so I wanted to be one of the firsts. Here's my take on the beginning of the flashback Katherine showed Nadia. _

_Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer, I don't own Katerina or Nadia, just the beginning of the story line (:_

Bulgaria 1496

Katerina Petrova laid in bed, listening to the sounds of her daughter's mumbling and the wooden toys roll across the hard floor of their cabin. It was barely light out and the only source light coming through the small cabin was the light from the burning fireplace next to their bed. She had mastered way to keep it going over night, learning to wake herself every few hours to put some more wood inside of the fireplace. Her daughter, six year old Nadia always threw a log or two in when she woke.

Her and her daughter had lived in this very village with the most welcoming people for six years now, after months on the run with a newborn, Katerina ran into a woman from this village. She invited Katerina into her home and soon enough, the men of the village were helping her build a cabin. Everyone in the small village pitched in, the women made clothing for both the infant and herself, others started her a wood collection and the older children helped start her a food supply. Mother's helped her start a garden, the young adult's build her furniture.

The people were more than welcoming to Katerina, they took her under their wig, even now, six years later, the men still often dropped by with firewood without wanting a trade, it was just who these people were.

Now, she had a small cabin that suited her and her daughter, they didn't need much else. She spent her days making clothing, gardening and trading while her daughter fetched wood and played, they didn't expect much from the children, most of the adults did the work, they just wanted to children to play and grow.

By the time Katerina pulled herself from her bed and grabbed a pot to start boiling the water Nadia had already collected from the river, for oatmeal, her daughter had dressed herself and set the table with their spoons and bowls. Katerina smiled at her daughter as she got up from the floor where her toys were and rushed over to her now awake mother.

"Hi, mama." The little girl spoke, jumping onto the bed to give her mother a hug. Katerina couldn't help but grin at her daughter, hugging the small child close to her.

"Good morning, my darling." The two spoke for a few minutes as the water boiled. The sun was now peaking into the village and from the window, she could see other's going out to grab water or other things for breakfast.

It was the beginning of May and the one glass piece that Katerina owned had been taken down from the window, it wasn't needed now that it was warmer out. Nadia and her mother ate their breakfast, talking to each other with smiles on their face. After the oatmeal was devoured and Nadia was dressed with her sweater over top of her clothing, she took off outside. Nadia was the first child out, but that didn't stop her from running out into the woods where most of the kids Nadia's age met every morning.

An hour later, the sun was completely up and Katerina was finishing up washing clothing in the large bucket she often used to wash her daughter before bedtime. A quick look outside and you could see Nadia running back and forth between the river and the woods, god only knew what they were doing out there.

For the next few hours, Katerina traded her selection of vegetables for several candles, fresh chicken, a box of matches, a bag of firewood, fresh berries and thread for sewing. As she waved goodbye to her last customer of the morning, Nadia came running towards the door. It was lunch time and the girl was hungry.

"Mama? Can we have berries with lunch?" The small girl asked from the bucket as she washed off her hands, as requested by Katerina.

"I suppose I can cut some up for us, what have you children been doing out there?" She asked her six year old and the girl smiled, starting a conversation about the many things they have done that afternoon from playing games they made up and making swords from all the things they could find out in the forest, she went on to say that a good friend of hers had fallen out of their favorite tree.

"She's got a big cut on her leg, her daddy said that she might needa get it sewn up with thread." Katerina grimaced thinking about having to sew her daughter up if she ever fell and hurt herself to that extent.

"Be careful, okay?" Nadia nodded, taking a bite of her berries and flashing her mother a large smile, who returned it and continued to eat while listening to the daughters adventures of the last couple hours.

Back out Nadia went, waiting out in the woods for her friends. She climbed up into the tallest tree, their favorite tree that reached way up above some of the other trees, it allowed her to see over her village, she could see her cabin, her mother was hanging clothing outside and smiled when she noticed her friends coming towards the woods. The small girl scurred down the tree and met her friends at the bottom.

"Lets make a fort! It would be super cool!" A young boy explained and soon, all ten children were working on building a fort around the large tree. The kids tied grass and sticks together, laid logs and within an hour, had a giant fort made that could fit all of them standing up and sitting down. They collected grass and made a soft ground to sit on, they all climbed inside and started telling stories, their laughing could be heard from the village.

Darkness began to raise over the village and the kids complained as the realised it was time to get an armful of wood and return home. They all went around, getting a large pile and all took enough for the night, putting the extra in the fort so that they could use it tomorrow.

All of them soon parted and safely returned to their cabins, dropping their collected firewood down on the floor just as darkness hit the village. Katerina smiled as the tired, dirt covered little girl dropped the armful of wood into the bucket next to the door. She shrugged off her coat and Katerina picked it up, leading the small girl over to the now filled bucket, the water was now at a perfect temperature after sitting for a little while.

She unbuttoned her daughters dress and pulled off the undershorts, slipping off the dirty leather shoes and white socks. She picked the girl up, placing her down in the water and throwing the dirty clothing into another woven bucket across the cabin.

She washed the yawning girl up and had her out within a few minutes. She grabbed the brush from the table and got her daughter, who was wrapped in a large towel, to sit down in front of the crackling fire. She placed a chair behind the girl and then began to brush out the tangles, the water always made her long, chocolate brown curly locks knotted.

After the girl was warmed up, her hair was brushed out and she was dressed in a long white nightgown, Katerina lead the small brunette over towards the bed. She helped the girl up into the remade blankets and pulled them up over her chest.

"Mama, you should see the fort we built out in the woods today," The girl told her mother as she tucked the blankets around her. "its really big and we can all fit inside. I bet you could fit in there too, it took us a while, but its really cool." Katerina grinned as the girl mumbled on about the fort she built.

"Can I visit, my darling?" She asked and her daughter gave her a smile.

"When the sun comes up in the morning, you can mama." She leaned down to her daughter and gave her a sweet kiss on the forehead. The little girls eyes were locked on her mothers and the smile never left her face as she was given a kiss from her young mother.

"Goodnight, Nadia." The mother said quickly and the little girl replied with a quiet, "Goodnight, mommy." She shut her eyes and her mother pushed her drying hair from in front of her eyes, kissing her once again before moving back from the girl and beginning to get up.

"Sleep well, my love." She whispered as her daughters body relaxed into the sheets of her bed.

Katerina smiled at her beautiful, sleeping daughter, "Your mother loves you."

_And that is the end, I tried to make the scene almost identical to my writing, but I'm not sure if I succeed. Please review! Im planning on writing more Katerina/Nadia stories, so be sure to check back! Thanks for reading!_


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